Manchester United officials have reportedly conceded defeat in their attempts to keep JJ Gabriel at the club.
The Red Devils are enduring miserable times due to a woeful start to the season. The team currently lies 13th in the Premier League table, and on Wednesday, they suffered an embarrassing elimination from the Carabao Cup at the hands of Brighton, after squandering an early two-goal lead.
Moreover, the club’s unpleasant situation was compounded by JJ Gabriel’s shocking transfer request.
Man Utd unlikely to pull off JJ Gabriel U-turn
The Carrington youth product is widely considered the most exciting 15-year-old in the country, and perhaps in the world.
However, Gabriel and his entourage are unhappy with the player’s status at the club, as they were hoping for a prominent role with the senior team already.
According to The Athletic journalist Laurie Whitwell, Gabriel has been away from the club’s training facility since bagging a historic hat-trick against Sabah in the UEFA Youth League on Thursday.
The teenager will be able to walk away at the end of the season when his contract expires, or even sooner if he does indeed possess a European passport (either through his Irish father or his Greek-Cypriot mother) once he turns 16 next month.
Therefore, Whitwell notes that the situation may already be ‘irretrievable’, with INEOS realising that a player whose value could soon exceed £100 million may have slipped through their fingers.
The source identifies Real Madrid as the frontrunners in the race for Gabriel.
Gabriel could be the biggest blow for Man Utd since INEOS took charge
Needless to say, United have been a club spiralling into chaos for more than a decade. Last season’s upturn under Michael Carrick now feels like a distant memory, and it is probably safe to label it as yet another false dawn.
And yet, Gabriel’s departure would strike differently. After all, the young striker has been United’s most exciting prospect in years, and depicts the hope of a better future.
Whether the teenager will go on to fulfil his marvellous promise or not is irrelevant at this stage. His departure will suggest that INEOS are incapable of managing the club’s most prized assets, and for Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Co, it would mean losing whatever credibility and trust they still retain among the fanbase.
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